Creating the annual Christmas television advertisement has become one of the most high-pressure jobs in British retail. This year, the task is more complex than ever. How do you sell festive joy, indulgence, and family togetherness when the world feels fraught with conflict and household budgets remain squeezed? The answer, according to industry observers, lies in a new wave of emotionally nuanced and sometimes starkly realistic commercials.
The Unenviable Task of the Advertiser
The fundamental goal for supermarkets and department stores remains clear: to foster positive feelings about the Christmas season that ultimately encourage spending. This involves amplifying themes of love and affection while minimising thoughts of stress, labour, and financial strain. However, for at least the fifth consecutive year, marketers are grappling with a global backdrop that makes unbridled celebration a tricky sell.
Retailers have navigated a series of challenging festive periods, from the subdued Covid Christmas of 2020 to the sudden restrictions of 2021 that left families with vast surpluses of turkey. The end of 2022 demanded selling luxury in the teeth of a burgeoning cost of living crisis. Now, in 2024, promoting idyllic family unity can feel insensitive against a panorama of international conflict.
John Lewis's Poignant and 'Tragic' Narrative
This year, John Lewis has drawn particular attention for its profoundly melancholic approach. The ad opens on a recognisably modern nuclear family, fragmented by teenage disengagement—headphones on, hair unwashed—and a mother using a weary voice to cajole everyone into tidying up. The father, whose styling conveys mid-life disappointment, discovers a lone present under the tree, missed in the earlier frenzy.
It bears a simple Post-it note, a deliberate feint suggesting a lack of thought. In reality, it contains a deeply thoughtful gift: a vinyl record of a club classic. As the music plays, he is transported back to his youth, images of his son as a baby and toddler flooding his mind. The ad dwells on the achingly sad passage of time and the intense, mournful love a parent feels for the versions of their child that are now gone. The result is an emotional punch that many are finding uniquely powerful.
Competing Visions of a Complicated Christmas
Other major retailers have adopted different, yet equally reflective, strategies. Marks & Spencer, featuring Dawn French, presents a cheerfully bleak scenario. Initially, we see French happily singing along to Christmas hits in her car. The camera then pulls back to reveal the truth: she is stuck in a completely stationary, dark traffic jam, a metaphor for a broken system where "nobody will ever get home." The salvation comes in the form of an M&S van in the queue, its doors opening to reveal a ready-made party.
Tesco has been openly pragmatic in its messaging. Accompanying its ad, a press release stated the brand wants to "celebrate the wonderfully relatable chaos" of the festive season, acknowledging that Christmas isn't solely about picture-perfect moments. Meanwhile, Sainsbury's has opted for surrealism, inserting the fictional Big Friendly Giant into a traditional family scene—a whimsical escape from reality.
A Question of Relevance in a Digital Age
Beyond the creative challenge lies another existential question: in an era of streaming services and ad-skipping, do people even watch these commercials anymore? This potential of "shouting into the void" makes the considerable investment and creative effort behind these cinematic flights of fancy all the more striking. The Christmas ad remains a high-stakes tradition, reflecting not just brand identity, but the very mood of the nation as the year draws to a close.
